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ITS-NY Celebrates 20th Year Anniversary

Saratoga Springs, NY -- (ReleaseWire) -- 06/21/2013 --Receiving congratulatory messages from the Governor of New York State, the Honorable Andrew M. Cuomo, and the Commissioner of the New York State Department of Transportation, Joan McDonald, in the celebration of its 20th year anniversary, the Intelligent Transportation Society of New York (ITS-NY) is the longest operating State Chapter of ITS America. ITS-NY marked this milestone on June 13-14, 2013 at its 20th Annual Meeting and Technology Exhibition held in Saratoga Springs, NY, with 34 technology exhibits and over 200 participants in attendance.

During the conference, a special 20th Anniversary Celebratory Dinner was held, welcoming ITS-NY Past Presidents from the early 1990’s onward: Henry Peyrebrune, 1st President; Lawrence Yermack, 2nd President; Andrew Bata, 4th President; Robert Reiss, 7th President; Richard Zabinski, 8th President; and Joseph Tario, 9th President. ITS-NY conducted its annual awards ceremony during the celebratory dinner, and announced the 2013 ITS-NY Project of the Year Winner -- the Commercial Vehicle Infrastructure Integration Project. The project represents a milestone effort that helped change past national connected vehicle policy to ensure that the heavy vehicle industry is included as key stakeholders and users of this exciting new technology. The program was the first significant national effort to develop and test large trucks (tractor trailer) and maintenance vehicles with 5.9 GHz DSRC technology and to develop applications and functionalities for these types of specific vehicle operations. The Winning Team is led by New York State Department of Transportation, with fellow Team Members I-95 Corridor Coalition, Volvo Technology of America, Southwest Research Institute, Kapsch, and the Federal Highway Administration.

ITS-NY also recognized its 2013 Distinguished Member of the Year – Frank Dolan of Bergmann Associates – for his significant contribution in achieving the mission of ITS-NY. Additionally, newly instituted this year, was ITS-NY’s Hall of Fame Awards. Inducted into this Hall of Fame was the inaugural class of Andrew Bata, MTA New York City Transit; Matthew Edelman, TRANSCOM; Henry Peyrebrune, NYSDOT retired; Michael Schauer, FHWA New York Division, retired; John Shafer, New York State Thruway Authority retired; Tom Werner, Bergmann Associates; Lawrence Yermack, Wendover Consulting; and Richard Zabinski, NYSDOT retired.

“Our ITS-NY Distinguished Member and Hall of Fame inductees represent individuals whose significant impacts and groundbreaking contributions to ITS-NY come from decades of knowledge and expertise in the field of ITS. They have worked tirelessly to bring intelligent transportation technologies and applications to New York State’s citizens to improve traveler mobility and safety, as well as the efficiency of New York State’s transportation system across all modes of travel,” said Dr. Isaac Takyi, ITS-NY President.

Sponsored by the University Transportation Research Center and ITS-NY, the Best Student ITS Essay 2013 Winner was announced during the ITS-NY 20th Annual Meeting -- Akhan Almagambetov, a doctoral candidate from Syracuse University. Special recognition was also rendered to retiring Board of Directors members Rizwan Baig of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and Steven Levine of Kimley-Horn and Associates. ITS-NY Officer and Board of Directors elections results were also announced. Dr. Isaac Takyi of MTA New York City Transit was re-elected as President, Jeffrey Randall of Jacobs was re-elected as Vice President, and Christopher Jones of the New York State Thruway Authority was re-elected as Treasurer-Secretary. Newly elected and re-elected Board Members included Frank Dolan of Bergmann Associates, Matthew Ficarra of Jacobs Civil Consultants, Dr. Robert Jaffe of Consensus Systems Technologies, Karen Jehanian of KMJ Consulting, Inc., Christopher Jones of the New York State Thruway Authority, Arthur O’Connor of the Federal Highway Administration New York City Metro Office, Jeffrey Randall of Jacobs, Jennifer Strasser of Cambridge Systematics, and Joseph Tario of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority.

About The Intelligent Transportation Society of New York
The Intelligent Transportation Society of New York (http://www.its-ny.org ) is the State Chapter in New York of the national Intelligent Transportation Society of America. ITS-NY is a non-lobbying, non-profit, 501(c)3 organization of public, private, and academic sector organizations having an interest in the research, deployment, and operation of Intelligent Transportation Systems in New York.